The present invention relates to a security label, preferably for use in the video cassette, DVD discs, and video game retail and rental industry, and a method for forming such security label. In particular, the security label is a dual label construction comprised of a sub-assembly label and a top label, whereby the sub-assembly label is located within the periphery of the top label.
The video cassette and game retail and rental industry is a well established industry that annually rents or sells millions of movies and games to consumers. As would be expected, the theft of the rental movie cassettes, DVD discs, and video games is a prevalent problem. In particular, a problem exists whereby rental movies and games are shoplifted prior to being rented. For the owners of businesses that rent these DVD discs, tapes, and games, it is necessary to have various security measures in place to prevent such theft.
One necessary security measure is to locate a metal strip or similar material on the video cassette or game. An electronic gate, or similar security structure, is then put in place so that if a person tries to steal a video tape or game by concealing such item and walking out of the store, an alarm will be activated when the thief passes through the gate. This is a common security measure that is easily implemented into video rental stores to prevent theft. Unfortunately, such security measures may be circumvented by removing the metal strip, or similar material, from the video cassette or game. Typically, the metal strips are easily removed because they are readily visible and can be easily located and removed by a potential thief. For this reason, it has become necessary to conceal the metal strip and to make the metal strip difficult to remove.
While the metal strips are typically used to prevent theft of DVD discs, video tapes, and video games, such security measures can be used in association with a variety of different retail items. As such, it is desired to not only prevent theft of video tapes and games, but other retail items. Thus, it is desired to have a security system that can be used to prevent theft of any of a variety of retail items.
To conceal the visibility of the metal strip, labels disclosing information, which are often necessary, to a consumer can be used to mask or conceal such metal strip. However, the metal strip is typically in contact with at least one edge of the label, and, more likely, two edges of such label. Location on the edge allows the potential thief to remove such concealed metal strip by locating the metal strip on the edge of the label and removing the metal strip. The thief can then walk through the detection gates without activating the security system. For this reason, it is necessary to have a label that does not have the metal strip located near an edge of the label.
It is possible to conceal the metal strip without the strip contacting the edges of the label. However, to achieve such result, it is typically necessary to hand apply the metal strip, followed by applying by hand the label which conceals the metal strip. This is disadvantageous because it is time consuming and not in conformance with what is becoming standard procedure in the video tape and game rental industry. In particular, it is desirable to machine apply labels at a warehouse so that when the video tapes and games are shipped to the various rental and retail stores, application of security measures is no longer required.
Concealing the metal strip within a machine or hand appliable label has been exceptionally difficult to accomplish. In particular, a method for forming a suitable machine appliable security label, whereby the metal strip is concealed and located away from the edges of the label, has heretofore been unknown. Thus, it is desired to have a method of forming a security label that has a metal strip located away from the label edges and concealed from view.
The present invention relates to a security label comprised of two attached label members, which are formed into the security label prior to attachment of the security label onto a retail item, such as a video tape or game. Located within or on one label member will be a material designed to activate a security system. Typically, the material will be a magnetic metal or similar composition. Once formed, the security label will be placed on a retail item so that if the thief attempts to steal the retail item, a security system will be activated once the material designed to activate a security system breaks the plane of a particular security zone. For example, it is preferred to place a metal strip underneath the surface of the security label so that when the retail item passes through an electronic gate, which forms an electromagnetic field, the security system will be activated, alerting the employees of the store that the person is attempting to steal the item. The present invention also relates to a method for forming the security label whereby two labels are married so that the material that activates the security system is located away from the outer edges of the security label. The security label can be of any shape or dimension, as long as the security system is activated when the label breaks the system""s plane.
It is preferred if the two labels which comprise the security label are a subassembly label and a top label. The sub-assembly label will hold the material that activates the security system and will be located within the periphery of the outer edges of the top label. The two labels will be married to one another to form a unitary label, which is the security label. Preferably, the sub-assembly label will be made from a material comprised of two discrete layers that can be separated so that the material that activates the security system can be placed therebetween. More preferably, the two layers will be separated with a metal strip placed therebetween, such metal strip will activate a security system. Once the metal strip is in place, the layers will be remarried to form a sub-assembly layer material which can be cut or processed to form the subassembly layer. The metal strip can be of any construction, as long as the security system is activated. As such, the size and dimension of the metal strip will depend in part on the metal selected for use.
The top label will preferably be of a size larger than the sub-assembly layer so that the sub-assembly layer is located within the periphery of the outer edges of the top label. Thus, the top label circumference should be greater than the sub-assembly label or, at the very least, should be of a construction that does not allow the metal material to contact the edge or edges of the top layer. Additionally, it is preferred for the top label to be made from a material comprised of two discrete layers that can be separated so that the sub-assembly layer can be inserted therebetween, with the two layers remarried to form a unitary security label. Regardless, it is necessary to attach the subassembly label to the top label to form a security label. An adhesive can be placed on one face of the security label prior to formation, or after formation, so that the security label can then be attached fixedly to a video cassette or game.
It is believed necessary to use the dual label construction to form the security label because of the difficulty of forming a label having a metal strip, while still concealing the metal strip. Thus, it is believed pertinent to the present invention to first form the sub-assembly label comprised of the material used to form the sub-assembly label and the metal strip or material designed to activate the security system. Then the top label is formed and the two labels are married to form the security label. Once the security label is formed, it will then be optionally placed in a form that allows it to be machine appliable to various retail items, including DVD discs, video tapes and games. It is desirable that the security label be machine appliable as this eliminates the necessity of hand application of the labels and results in a label that is more convenient for use by the distributor of the games and tapes. However, the present label can be hand applied.
As such, the resulting security label is desirable because it can be machine applied to retail items, especially video tapes and games, and DVD discs. More importantly, a double label assembly is formed that can be readily placed on retail items while still resulting in a security material that is readily concealed from view. The material for activating the security gate is not readily or easily removed from the security label and is difficult to locate with the human eye.